Losing is a bad habit that the Browns desperately want to kick, which is why the preseason opener against the Saints on Aug. 10 is more important than the first game of the summer should be.

The miserable 1-15 regular season record in 2016 was rooted in a winless preseason. And if you really want to crunch some ugly numbers, consider this: On Nov. 23, 2014, the Browns beat the Falcons, 26-24, to climb to 7-4 under first-year coach Mike Pettine. It was their fourth victory in five games.

Since that momentous day in Atlanta, almost inconceivably, even for a franchise that has been mostly pitiful since 1999, the Browns are 5-40, including 1-7 in the 2015 and 2016 preseasons.

“I do not want to go 0-4 again,” head coach Hue Jackson said. “I don’t want to feel like that. I don’t think this team deserves that. We need to go out and play well in front of our fans and go win. I just think that has got to be our mind-set. If we’re going to play, we need to go win. Everybody says that, but I mean it.”

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That urgency is the best reason for starting Brock Osweiler at quarterback in the 8 p.m. kickoff at FirstEnergy Stadium and perhaps playing him more than the conventional two or three series starters usually get in the preseason opener. Jackson should play Osweiler into the second quarter, let Cody Kessler finish out the first half, and then let rookie DeShone Kizer start the second half and play into the fourth quarter. Kevin Hogan can have mop-up duty if he plays at all.

Can Corey Coleman and Kenny Britt become playmakers as the starting receivers? How will Shon Coleman play as the starting right tackle? Will Joe Haden play like the Pro Bowl cornerback he was in 2014, or will he look tired and slow to react as he did at times last year when he was bothered by groin injuries? Tank Carder is listed as the starting middle linebacker with Christian Kirksey and Jamie Collins on the outside. How will that group fare against the Saints’ run offense?

These issues and more will be dissected by the coaching staff on Aug. 11 while the players recuperate with a day off.

But this game, as much it is about learning how players perform, is about changing the team mentality from, “Here we go again,” to “Hey, we really are getting better.”

The Browns were 0-14 last season until they beat the San Diego Chargers, 20-17, on Christmas Eve. Joe Thomas, who tumbled out of the womb in a three-point stance protecting his mama’s blind side, was so overcome he wept in the locker room.

Thomas had been to nine straight Pro Bowls and was on his way to a 10th. He will likely be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday. He is by far the best to play for the Browns since their return to the NFL in 1999. He could easily have gone through the motions the last two games to make sure he got through the worst season in Browns history uninjured, yet losing had become such a heavy burden for Thomas he cried unashamedly when it was lifted.

No one — at least no one outside the team locker room — is expecting much from the Browns this season. Fans would regard 5-11 as major progress.

Players have to believe they can win before they do win. For the Browns, the preseason opener is a good place to start.